How might theories of leadership and

It is a question that has been asked more than once and also answered in different ways. The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do.

Messenger Some leadership attributes, like being How might theories of leadership and or encouraging, are viewed the same way in all cultures, but there are other characteristics that only spell leadership to people of Anglo-Celtic backgrounds. This may present a problem for the 5.

Four cultural clashes that are holding East Asian employees back While we all know what leadership is especially when we see itour implicit theories of what constitutes good leadership shape both how we judge our leaders and how we exercise leadership. Started in the early s, the project surveyed more then 17, mid-level managers from 62 countries including Australia in a first phase and over 1, CEOs and 5, senior executives in 24 countries in a second phase to find what attributes defined good leadership in each culture.

It found being a loner or irritable is seen as counterproductive in all cultures. However, other attributes, such as being independent or a risk taker, were seen as positive in some cultures, but not in others.

Cultural differences in leadership While researchers have not always agreed that leadership has a cultural component, thousands of studies have compared leadership approaches and preferences across two or more cultures over years. The basic conclusion of these studies is that leadership has both universal and cultural-specific aspects.

These findings showed up even when the participants were students. They are also confirmed by in-depth, single country or region-focused investigations. For example, leadership in China has been described as being the combination of both Chinese historical and philosophical traditions for example, Confucianism and Daoism and Western thinking.

Leaders inspire, motivate and expect high performance, while also valuing a team-oriented and participative approach.

Being humane-oriented or supportive contributes somewhat to being seen as a good leader, while being self-protective a focus on face-saving and status detracts from it. Those from a Confucian Asia background including China stand out as rating participative leadership the lowest in desirable styles.

Those of a Latin American background favour team orientation and reject autonomous leaders. Saving face, as a leader, is not seen as a bad thing to people from Southern Asian or Middle Eastern backgrounds.

A view from Australia The GLOBE project groups Australians into people of Anglo backgrounds, implying that culturally we are not too different from England or the US, and that we might look for the same kind of leaders.

Indeed, a more in-depth follow-up to the initial GLOBE project identified other specific and contradicting features. For example, Australians favoured egalitarianism and individualism, or appreciation of visionary leadership — but without too much charisma. We are more than just our backgrounds While trying to understand leadership in Australia through cultural lenses can be helpful, we must be cautious in setting up a direct link between cultural background and leadership approaches.

Cultural background does not always translate into behaviour — especially in the workplace or official positions. In a study I have conducted on workers in multinational corporationsI found some local employees behaved in a way that was very different from what their background would suggest.

This was the result of exposure to the culture of the organisation they worked for. Such mismatch between background and behaviours or attitudes is even more likely in multicultural societies like Australia. Confucius has a message for business leaders who want to succeed: We can also internalise more than one culture, becoming what we call a bicultural or multicultural individual.

At least some of the leaders identified as having Anglo-Celtic, European, non-European or Indigenous background might identify with more than one culture.

Their leadership approach might be influenced by one, more, or none of the internalised cultures. Repeated studies have revealed that people adapt to their environment and apply their cultural knowledge selectively. So we need to ensure not only that different backgrounds are brought into the leadership of Australia, but also that people feel comfortable using their different perspectives, as opposed to being stifled by a natural desire to fit in.

To a large extent, this can only happen if we are willing to see beyond an Anglo, or any other particular leadership approach, and work towards a view of leadership that is informed by, but transcends, any one culture.behaviourist theories, situational leadership, contingency theory and on to transactional and transformational leadership.

Each of these offers some insights into the qualities of successful leaders, but there has been a shift in focus from the generic characteristics. Get ‘The 10 Best Leadership Movies’ FREE! Join my occasional newsletter and get a free page eBook with my pick of the very best leadership movies - and why.

chapter1 Theories and Styles of Leadership 3 ChaPTer ObjeCTIveS After reading this chapter, answering the leadership challenges, and par-ticipating in the leadership .

Jun 27, · Leadership theories look at the effects that leaders have on their employees in establishing a happy productive work environment. Understanding the theories . 6 Prominent Theories of Leadership. Posted February 14, For example, a leader might use a transactional approach with certain employees who are highly motivated by money and other such extrinsic benefits, but the leader might use a transformational approach to motivate a different group of employees.

The work or project in question also. Scholarly research on the topic of leadership has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade, resulting in the development of diverse leadership theories.